Bioinformatics analysis of HPV associated host microRNA functions and identification of viral microRNA
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) form a large family among double stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses, some types of which are the major causes of cervical cancer. HPV 16 is widely distributed and the most common high-risk HPV type and approximately half of the cervical cancers are associated with HPV type 16. Of the three HPV 16 encoded oncogenes, the function of E5 in regulating viral replication and pathogenesis is less well understood than E6 and E7. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are important small noncoding RNA molecules that regulate wide range of cellular functions. Some dsDNA viruses, such as SV40 and human polyomaviruses, have functional viral miRNAs. The functional and molecular similarities among dsDNA viruses suggest that HPV could encode viral miRNAs, which have not been validated thus far. The aim of this thesis was to study the functions of the host miRNAs in HPV 16 oncogene induction and identify novel HPV encoded viral miRNAs. We utilized microarray technology to investigate the effect of E5 on host miRNAs and mRNAs expression in 0 96 hours after E5 induction in a cell line model. Among the differentially expressed cellular miRNAs, we further validated the expression of hsa-mir-146a, hsa-mir-203, and hsa-mir-324-5p and some of their target genes in a time series of 96 hours of E5 induction. Our results indicate that HPV E5 expression has an impact through complex regulatory patterns of gene expression in the host cells, and part of those genes is regulated by the E5 protein. Second, high throughput sequencing was used to identify virus-encoded miRNAs. We prepared small RNA sequencing libraries from ten HPV-associated cervical lesions, including cancer and two HPV-harboring cell lines. For more flexible analysis of the sequencing data we developed miRSeqNovel, an R based workflow for miRNA sequencing data analysis, and applied it to the sequencing data to predict putative viral miRNAs and discovered nine putative papillomavirus encoded miRNAs. Viral miRNA validation was performed for five candidates, four of which were successfully validated by qPCR from cervical tissue samples and cell lines: two were encoded by HPV 16, one by HPV 38, and one by HPV 68. The expression of two HPV 16 miRNAs was further supported by in situ hybridization, and colocalization with p16INK4A staining, a marker of cervical neoplasia. Prediction of cellular target genes of HPV 16 encoded miRNAs suggests that they may play a role in cell cycle, immune functions, cell adhesion and migration, development and cancer, which were also among the functions targeted by the E5 regulated host cell mRNA and miRNAs. Two putative viral target sites for the two validated HPV 16 miRNAs were mapped to the E5 gene, one in the E1 gene, two in the L1 gene, and one in the long control region (LCR).
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Kui Qian
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1589702432